Norther - Circle Regenerated review
| Band: | Norther |
| Album: | Circle Regenerated |
| Style: | Extreme power metal |
| Release date: | April 13, 2011 |
| A review by: | Troy Killjoy |
01. Through It All
02. The Hate I Bear
03. Truth
04. Some Day
05. Break Myself Away
06. Believe
07. Falling
08. We Do Not Care
09. The Last Time
10. Closing In
11. New Beginning [Limited edition bonus]
12. Hear You Call My Name [Limited edition bonus]
13. Bimbo [Lambretta cover] [Limited edition bonus]
The first time I listened to this album I thought it was a joke, that I was being trolled by Century Media. That the copy I
This shit is supposed to be taken seriously. The problem is, I take this about as seriously as watching a one-legged drunk hobo trying to masturbate in a dark alley while I suck back a bag of Skittles.
You're waiting for the part where I tell you why it's so bad. Fine. Once you sift through the serious shit that is out-of-place piano sections; incredibly amateurish clean vocals and godawful choir-like chants; monotonous, soulless screams; and extraordinary keyboard abuse, surprise surprise: You begin to question what it is about fecal matter that you find inescapably erotic. Then you wonder how you managed to pull off listening to Circle Regenerated in its entirety even once.
Just like extreme power metal poster boys Children Of Bodom, these Finns focus primarily on the simplest of song structures. The sad thing is, they don't even do that well. Every song manages to sound sloppy in one way or another: too few ideas are presented and then those are run into the ground in a directionless suicidal free-fall. Or is free-falling a directly downward direction...? Sorry, I was almost philosophizing in a Norther review. Won't happen again.
The most difficult thing to explain about this album is what it's supposed to be or do. I mean, apparently the musicians feel they have at least a shred of dignity and take themselves seriously enough to release new material like this, so you've gotta assume it's not a parody. The overall light-hearted nature (that would be its overwhelming cheese factor) eliminates any potential aggression, while the lackadaisical riffs don't even give you any chance to headbang. For all intents and purposes... there aren't any. It just seems like a release for the sake of a release.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 5 |
| Songwriting: | 4 |
| Originality: | 4 |
| Production: | 5 |
 | Written on 18.11.2011 by I'm total pro; that's what I'm here for. |
Comments
| qlacs "The Quaker" Posts: 1547  |
Troy trolling at best. I love these reviews  The album is really a bit of crap though.
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| Carl Berg Carl Berg Posts: 589  |
Troy, thank you for voicing what many of us have already asked themselves : wtf is this supposed to be? After Petri joining Ensiferum, Norther have gone downhill, on a very steep slope. Dreams of Endless War and Mirror of Madness were great releases, but since N ,I stopped listening to them. Thanks for a great review dude.
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| Fredd Account deleted |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by qlacs on 18.11.2011 at 21:34 Trolling? Never. Written by Carl Berg on 18.11.2011 at 21:35 My pleasure! Well...not really, but ya. No problem. Written by [user id=114127] on 18.11.2011 at 21:36 Indeed Fredd, this comes highly recommended just for you.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603  |
Dude, this isn't the best of albums, and I get that a lot of people pretty much hate it, but I think you've gone a little too far with the rating... with all the shit we're hearing on a yearly basis, this can't possibly be a 3.0. But this is my piece of cake only. I've very much enjoyed the cheesy clean vocals on The Hate I Bear - courtesy of Aleksi or Daniel, I wonder? And Kride's voice is a delish on Falling and Some Day.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Milena on 18.11.2011 at 21:55 I'd honestly like to know what makes you think this is any better than a 3.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Written by Milena on 18.11.2011 at 21:55 You're right... I thinking 2,5 does the trick. Nah but seriously... this is just awful, 4 from me.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 18.11.2011 at 21:57 That's more like it There's only two albums on MS I've rated with a four, and both completely out of my comfort zone. If you rate something below five, then you probably shouldn't have listened to it in the first place 
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Milena on 18.11.2011 at 21:59 I randomly played some songs... and I agve it a four, then I listened to one with clean vocals. Yup, it's a 3,5 from me.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Milena on 18.11.2011 at 21:59 That's terrible logic. Morbid Angel, Metallica, Pestilence, all bands I listened to for years. The same goes for CoB and Norther.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 18.11.2011 at 22:01 Well there's duds of course. I almost rated the Dramatic Turd a four, and then I remembered the utterly wonderful Breaking All Illusions. So one dud in one year of active Metalstorming... had a couple others during the years but I tend to repress them.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 18.11.2011 at 22:00 How do you think I feel? I've listened to this 3 times. D:
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Milena on 18.11.2011 at 22:05 I think our standards are completely different. I don't have any problem handing out 3s and 4s I find appropriate. Just look at my list of 2011 albums. Lots of bad shit on there.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 18.11.2011 at 22:05 Do you.... Do you want to talk about it? Don't worry, Troy... It's all over now *hugs*.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 18.11.2011 at 22:06 Me neither, I just tend to avoid bad shit. But had to listen to DT even after people warned me it's shit. I felt like proving them wrong. Okay, that album seriously broke my heart.
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 18.11.2011 at 22:07 It's okay. I've vented my frustrations in this review. Now I'm going to work on Cavalera Conspiracy, Pestilence, The Haunted, and Ajattara.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 18.11.2011 at 22:09 Oh man that's gonna suck quite a bit.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by Milena on 18.11.2011 at 22:09 But how do you know it's bad? Look at workdrink with The Browning. One of the worst albums according a lot of people, but he gave it a score of slightly less than great. Some people like the new Pestilence album, and some people like the new Norther/CoB. I listen to as many albums as I can, even if I don't think I'm going to like it. That way I can form my own opinion as opposed to believing what everyone else is saying.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Milena gloom cookie Staff Posts: 4603 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 18.11.2011 at 22:11 I just have so many things to check out that I've missed over the years that I don't feel obliged to check out stuff that majority of people labels as shit. Plus, most of it comes from the realms that don't interest me for now (thrash, black, pure death, doom, and those post-thingies). And MS isn't my only source, I rely on people that know my taste well too. And I like the new CoB as well. It's not on a particularly lower lever than any of their "old" albums, same old party music, same old indulgence, and the lyrics are better, which helps you feel like less of an idiot while singing along to it. The only thing missing is the neoclassical feel. And since I crave it very rarely, I have my old CoB albums for that,
---- 7.0 means the album is good
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| moe5512 Posts: 502  |
Oh Troy, do you ever release a positive review (even if I usually agree with you)
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by moe5512 on 19.11.2011 at 00:58 Of course not, I'm a killjoy.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| bluemobiusx Account deleted |
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| JÄY Metal slave Posts: 1567  |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by JÄY on 19.11.2011 at 02:06 I know right? They don't get much worse than this...
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| JÄY Metal slave Posts: 1567 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 19.11.2011 at 02:16 Yeah and I know that feeling you got when you said you thought this was a joke...I mean, these guys are professional recording artists......HOW?!
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by [user id=109246] on 19.11.2011 at 03:44 How so?
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by [user id=109246] on 19.11.2011 at 04:36 You mean you don't like my ratings then. That's different than not liking my reviews. As for albums I do like, just check this.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by [user id=109246] on 19.11.2011 at 04:47 Keep in mind that's an incredibly subjective list.  It's all about my personal taste, so there's likely a lot of things you disagree with.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by [user id=109246] on 19.11.2011 at 04:55 http://metalstorm.net/pub/review.php?review_id=9016 No bother, I assure you. Although if you want to continue with off-topic discussion just send me a PM.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| flamesoficarus Posts: 135 |
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